International Trade: Customs' Revised Bonding Policy Reduces Risk of Uncollected Duties, but Concerns about Uneven Implementation and Effects Remain

摘要

Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been unable to collect at least $480 million in antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties. In July 2004, CBP revised its policy regarding the continuous bonds (CB) that importers post. The policy potentially significantly increases the amount of the bonds for affected importers. Following the application of the policy to imports of shrimp as a 'test case,' U.S. importers and trading partners initiated legal action to prevent CBP from continuing to apply the policy. GAO examined why and how CBP revised its CB policy, how CBP implemented the revised policy, and the effects of the revised policy.